PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Phoenix Fire Department crews responded to the area of 32nd St and McDowell for a reported bee attack.

Nearly two dozen people were stung outside of a Phoenix mosque. Firefighters sprayed mounds of foam to get the bees under control.

"It's always a bad situation when you're talking about Africanized bees, because once one bee creates a pheromone which sends off the other bees to attack," said Joseph Mikesell with Truly Nolen.

There were reports of over 20 people stung, one person stung so bad he had to go to the hospital.

"What people just need to understand is they cannot outrun them, they're not going to sink under water and stay away from them, they're not going to just knock them off, they need to stay away from them. If you see bee activity get inside, don't try and take care of it yourself, contact a professional and let us take care of the situation," said Mikesell.

The bees come in swarms of hundreds and even into the thousands. It's not clear what caused the attack, but the one thing experts say is not to eat bananas, because the scent is an attack pheromone and it agitates the bees.